Readiness of the Finnish design and consulting sector for small modular reactor project participation : a competence-based perspective

Abstract

This thesis examines the readiness of the Finnish design and consulting sector to participate in future small modular reactor projects from a competence-based perspective. The study combines a literature overview with a survey-based empirical analysis. The literature review identifies competence requirements related to different phases of SMR projects and emphasizes the importance of regulatory, safety, quality, project-delivery, and systems-integration capabilities alongside nuclear-specific expertise. The empirical part of the study was conducted as a survey targeted at Finnish design and consulting companies, resulting in 19 responses from 17 companies in total.

The findings indicate that the sector has a meaningful but uneven foundation for future SMR participation. Stronger existing competence was identified particularly in safety-critical work, regulatory and permitting-related tasks, digital engineering, quality management and traceability, project management, and district heating or thermal energy systems. The results also suggest that deeper nuclear-specialized capability may be concentrated in a more limited number of actors than distributed evenly across the wider sector. The main remaining gaps were identified in nuclear-related knowledge, project delivery under nuclear requirements, regulatory and licensing capability, and access to relevant nuclear-sector networks and partnerships.

The study concludes that the Finnish design and consulting sector is not uniformly prepared for SMR participation, but it does contain identifiable strengths that could support realistic future involvement, especially in enabling, supporting, and integrating roles related to future SMR projects.